Microsoft and User Experience

Josh Holmes (Architect Evangelist for Microsoft) is speaking at our local .net user group next week. The topic is Silverlight. I won't be able to make this one, but "Architect Evangelist for Microsoft" reminded me of those User Experience Evangelist job postings from last year - what ever happened with that?

I started hunting around and found the blogs for the first two hires:

• Chris Bernard, Design Thinking Digest
• Will Tschumy, UX Strategy (SlideShare account)

Are there more?

I see Chris talking about NextD and IBM and other topics of interest, so I am glad that I found his blog.

I also found this: Microsoft's Architect Evangelists (software architecture, of course, not physical or information architecture) are teaming up with Chris for a "roadshow" that is part of ArcReady: (bold added by me)

Microsoft's journey towards creating new technology strategies, platforms, tools and practices is to drive the next generation of software for consumers and the enterprise. It's not without irony that one of the most neglected and challenging components of the software design process is understanding how to identify, design and implement the 'experience' that an individual will have with an interface. Learn how Microsoft is elevating 'user experience' to a first-class citizen in the software design and development process. Understand why 'user experience' may be one of the most important parts of an Architect’s job in creating new software that will matter.

Our next ArcReady program is called "Architecting for the User Experience." Our guest speaker will be Chris Bernard, UX Evangelist for Microsoft. Together with the Central Region Architect Evangelists, we’ll discuss the role of the 'user experience' in architectural design and provide hands-on, practical guidance for getting better results in your own projects. We’ll discuss WPF, Silverlight (formerly “WPF/E”), XAML and the new Expressions suite of products that allow designers, architects and developers to build great 'user experiences' using the same base technologies. More importantly, we will discuss how architects can work with software design professionals in new and innovative ways to create the next generation of 'experiences' and products that will be demanded by consumers and the enterprise.

The midwest is covered extensively and there will be several shows within 3 hours of Toledo:

• Cincinnati, May 23
• Detroit, May 25
• Cleveland, June 13
• Columbus, June 14

Targeted at senior developers, there are 2 parts to the talk: (1) What architects should address as they design software. (2) How architects and designers work together.

Looking at the other cities and dates, makes me think of a rock star schedule...